Without a Trace
by A.R.C.Fangirl 0w0v
Summary: AU Arthur finds a strange Chinese man just sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Because it was also the middle of the night and pouring down rain, the Brit decides to help him out. Who knew one "stranger" could cause so much.


Arthur cursed under his breath at the weather condition as he continued driving. Sure it always rained around here, but tonight was just ridiculous; he could barely see the road. The rain continued to hammer down and Arthur could've sworn he saw a flash of light in the background. Lucky for him, the roads were completely clear, making it less likely to get in an accident. Well, who would be out here at a time like this? It was almost midnight.

As he continued steadily driving, he noticed a person sitting on the railing on the side of the road. "What the‒" Arthur was curious as to why a person would be sitting out in the pouring rain in the middle of nowhere, not to mention it was also the middle of the night. Curiosity got the best of him as he pulled over past the person, parking his car and grabbing an emergency flashlight and an umbrella.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing sitting around in the middle of nowhere and in this kind of weather?" Arthur shouted as he approached the person. He could see from the person's shadow that the individual had turned to him. When Arthur's light finally reached the person, it revealed a feminine looking, young Chinese man looking in his early to mid twenties.

The look on the stranger's face showed he was puzzled. At first, he looked all around him before looking back at Arthur, pointing to himself with a head tilt. "Yes, you. I don't see anyone else around." Arthur said a bit sharply. "Now, are you going to answer me?"

The Chinese man blinked a couple of times at Arthur before speaking. "Just waiting. I don't have a car or anything aru." Arthur gave a raised brow. What did he mean by no car?

"If you don't have a car, then how'd you get here? And who're you waiting for?" The Chinese man gave a measly shrug to answer Arthur's questions before continuing on.

"I'm not waiting for anyone in particular; just waiting aru." The stranger answered, looking back forward at the road, swinging his legs back and forth.

Arthur looked disbelievingly at the Chinese man. He was making no sense and seemed so neutrally calm, not to mention somewhat child like with the way he swung his legs.

"Um, okay then. Would you maybe like a ride or something..." Arthur asked awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck and looking away. The Chinese man's head instantly shot towards Arthur, giving a look of shock. "U-unless you prefer just sitting out here in the rain!" The Brit looked back at the other when hearing a loud splash of water. The Chinese man had hopped off his seat on the rail, his whole body now positioned towards Arthur.

"...Really...?" The two stood for a bit before Arthur walked farther towards the other. The Chinese man tensed up a bit when the Brit got close, soon realizing the rain had stopped falling upon him. He was now under Arthur's umbrella with him.

"Come on. You'll catch a nasty cold out here." Arthur kindly said with a gentle smile. He lead the Chinese man to the passenger seat of his car, ignoring how stupid it was to drive around a complete stranger he found on the side of the road. The whole time he did so, Arthur couldn't shake off this strange feeling he had inside.

Being polite, Arthur opened the door for the stranger, now seeing that he was about half a head taller than the Chinese man. After he seated himself on the passenger seat, Arthur closed the door and trotted over the driver's side, enter his car himself. The Brit then tossed his umbrella and flashlight to the back before driving off.

"So, um, I didn't quite catch your name. My is Arthur." Arthur introduced himself, still watching the road. From the corner of his eye, Arthur could see Yao staring at him, soon looking down at his lap after he introduced himself.

"Oh, my name is Yao aru..." Arthur started feeling uneasy and he didn't quite understand why. Was it because he was driving around a strange stranger? Yeah, that must be it.

"Nice to meet you, Yao" Arthur said, giving a toothy smile. The Chinese man turned back to Arthur, staring at the Brit once again. "W-where are you heading?" The uneasy feeling just kept on nagging Arthur, really starting the annoy the Brit. The way Yao kept staring at him didn't help that much either.

"Nowhere really specifically. You can just drop me off at the old library aru." Yao instructed. Arthur nodded his head in acknowledgement, but inside, he was wondering why Yao would want to be dropped off there. The old library moved location because of its previous location near a cemetery and was now vacant. Who would want to go to a place so close to one?

The drive was silent and fairly unnerving for Arthur. Yao kept on staring at him as he drove. The Brit tried to ignore it, but it was just nerve-racking.

"Is there a problem?" Arthur asked.

"No, why would you ask that aru?"

"Well, I've noticed you've been staring for a while..." Arthur answered, feeling very awkward.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean too aru..." Yao replied, turning his gaze back down to his lap. From then on, the drive was somewhat sooth. Although, Arthur still had that horrible feeling inside that just would not leave him alone.

A couple miles later, they had reached Yao's destination. Arthur looked out the passenger side window and so did Yao, both seeing an old, rundown building. Before the Brit even knew it, Yao had already stepped out the car, walking towards the covered area in front of the library.

"Wait!" Arthur shouted, rolling the window down. "Are you sure this is the place you needed to be at?" Yao stopped in his tracks, looking down at the ground. The Chinese man turned his head partially back to Arthur and nodded his head, giving a shallow smile.

"Thank you, and sorry for bothering you aru." Yao said.

"It was no bother at all. I was headed this way anyways." Arthur replied with partially fake cheerfulness. The Brit had saw something that froze his very core; he could've sworn he saw blood trickling down the side of Yao's face. He couldn't confirm it because Yao had already turn back forward, continuing to walk to the covered area.

Arthur watched as Yao seated himself on the ground, leaning on one of the brick pillars with his knees to his chest and his arms around his knees. His back was towards the Brit, but Arthur was able to tell where Yao was looking toward; the cemetery.

Arthur shook his head at the thought. Why would Yao want to go to a cemetery after just sitting in the middle of nowhere on a road side rail. Now that he thought about it, how did Yao even get there? There were a lot of questions now edging at Arthur along with his strange inner feeling. The Brit only shook everything off, started his car up again and started driving off. It was all behind him now.

As he started to drive, Arthur looked towards the digital clock in his car, seeing it was 30 past midnight now. Because of how late it was and how tired he realized he was, Arthur decided it was probably a good idea to stop at a local inn. The whole time he drove away from the old library, Arthur hadn't notice that he was being watched by a certain Chinese man from his spot.

"If I am not mistaken, there should be an inn just around the corner..." Arthur mumbled to himself. He was happy to see that he was correct. The place hadn't changed all that much from when he was a child growing up.

After dealing with checking in, Arthur grabbed a hold of one of his bags and headed towards his room. Since he was still fairly wet, the Brit thought it'd be a good idea warm himself up with a nice warm shower before bed.

As Arthur exited the bathroom, a towel on his head, he was met with a familiar stranger on his bed.

"_Nihao_!"

"GWAAHH!" Arthur yelped, falling on the floor from shock. There Yao was, sitting on his knees on the bed, staring with concernment down at Arthur. Backing away from the oddly mysterious Chinese man, Arthur started shouting incoherently something that shouted like 'What the bloody hell are doing here?' and 'How the bloody hell did you get here?'. Although, Yao couldn't understand him at all and just gave a head tilt.

"You should work on your speech aru."

"I do not! How did you get here, and what are you even doing here?" Arthur shouted, now standing on his feet. That was when a quick picture flashed into his head; it was of earlier when he thought he saw blood on Yao.

Without a second thought, Arthur grabbed a hold of Yao's head with both his hands, earning a yelp from the Chinese man. Not noticing the flustered expression on the other's face, Arthur starting looking all around Yao's head for any signs of blood.

"Aiyah! What are you doing aru! Let go of me, pervert!" Yao shouted, trying to shake Arthur off.

"I'm not a pervert!" Arthur shouted back with annoyance, standing firm. "I was just trying to see if you were injured! You were bleeding earlier!" Yao's eyes widened from what Arthur said. The Chinese man then shoved the Brit's arms away from him, jumping off the bed and away from Arthur. "Oi! Get back here! I'm not done with you!"

The two started running around the small room, Arthur trying to grab a hold of Yao while he was trying to get away. "Will you knock it off! I should call the cops on you!" Arthur shouted. Yao stared crossly at Arthur, both guys a tad out of breath. Before any of them could make another move, there was a knock on the door. "Stay!" Arthur commanded Yao to do like a dog, pointing to the Chinese man as he backed away towards the door. Yao pouted, crossing his arms, unamused to be treated like a dog.

Arthur sighed, turning away from Yao and now opening the door. "Yes?"

"I am sorry to disturb you, but do you realize how loud you were. There are other people trying to sle‒ A-Arthur?" Arthur raised a brow at the person at the door. The person was another Chinese person, this time a boy in his late teens. The teen's eyes were somewhat larger than it was a second ago, showing that he was surprised to see Arthur.

"Forgive me, but do I kno‒" The Brit stopped midsentence when realizing who the teen was. "Hong? Is that you?" To answer Arthur's question, the Chinese teen nodded. "Oh my goodness! Hong Wang? I haven't seen you in ages!" Arthur smiled brightly, stepping aside as a signal for Hong to enter, which he did.

"My, you've grown up so much." Arthur commented. "The last I've seen you, you were six." Hong silently nodded his head which Arthur found a bit odd. "I don't recall you being this quiet though..."

"Lots of things happened the past 12 years..." Hong shrugged. The way Hong said his last sentence made Arthur's smile falter.

"Right..." Arthur said before clearing his throat. "So, what are you doing at a place like this?"

"We have a short break from school, so I thought I'd come back home for a visit, but I really hate driving at night in this kind of weather." Hong explained looking out the window. The rain was still hammering down. "What about you?" The Chinese teen asked, turning back to Arthur.

"Oh, I thought of visiting, too. I have relatives here."

"Did you bring someone along?" Right when Hong asked his question, Arthur perked up. "You were shouting a lot and woke me up."

"That reminds me! Where did that bloody git go?" Arthur growled, standing from his seat and looking around the empty room.

"Who?" Hong gave a raised brow. There wasn't anyone else presently in the room besides him and Arthur.

"This weird Chinese man named Yao." Arthur answered, still looking around the room.

"...W-what?"

"I helped this one person sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. He said he didn't have a car and was just waiting randomly for no one or something." For a moment, the room was silent. Arthur hadn't noticed anything until Hong jolted towards him, grabbing him by his shirt collar.

"Arthur, tell me exactly what this person looked like." Hong demanded. Arthur was shocked by the teen's sudden burst of interest. His voice was coarse and his eyes seemed to be getting watery.

"W-well, he had long hair tied in a ponytail over his shoulder and gold eyes. He was about this tall," Arthur explained, showing Yao's approximate height, "And ended some of his sentences with 'aru'." Right when Arthur finished his description, Hong went pale, worrying the Brit. "Hong? What's wrong?" He asked, concerned about the teen.

"Where is he now?" Hong urgently demanded, looking around the room, voice louder than before.

"What? I-I don't know." Arthur said. "Hong, what's going on?"

"When we were kids..." Hong started hesitantly, really beginning to worry Arthur, "Did you remember anyone else with us?" Arthur looked baffled by Hong's sudden question, but answered anyways.

"Uh, no. Wasn't it just us two?" Arthur asked, giving a questioning look. Hong shook his head.

"I had an older brother..." Arthur eyes widened as Hong went on, pulling a chain around his neck off. His voice was somewhat calm again. "The three of us played together all the time." Hong looked down at the locket, clicking the small button on the side to open it up. "Are you sure you don't remember?" The Chinese teen handed Arthur the locket, revealing a picture of a boy that looked exactly like Yao, but a lot younger.

"W-what happened?" Arthur asked, honestly frightened to hear the answer. Hong was now seated with his elbows on his knees and his hands covering his face.

"It was a night very similar to tonight six years ago. _Ma _and _Ba _were fighting and it was getting really bad." Hong started. "I called Yao-Ge and told him to drive back home as fast as he could even though it was pouring and dark and he was still at the academy. He said he'd be there to sort things out, but he never came...

"Yao-Ge really did try to get home as fast as he could, but with the weather the way it was, it was probably hard to see. Not only that, but there was another driver said to be driving under the influence and there was a crash. He died." Hong finished, voice coarse at the last sentence as Arthur's heart practically skipped a beat. "I still can't get over it..."

"I-I'm so sorry..." Arthur managed to say, comforting the other by patting his back. Hong sighed, standing back up.

"It's really late now. We both should be resting." The Brit stood with Hong, the other's back facing towards him as he looked towards the floor.

"Yeah..." When Arthur looked back up to watch Hong leave, there was Yao looking right at his younger brother, on the break of tears.

"H-Hong..." Yao cupped his brother's cheek as he was looking at the ground. Both Yao and Arthur's eyes widened as Hong continued walking; walking right through Yao. The Chinese man instantly turned, watching his grieving brother leave. At the same time, Arthur was looking back and forth from Yao and Hong, not believing what he just heard and saw.

When Arthur saw Yao shaking and clutching the hand he used to touch Hong close to him, he couldn't help but feel awful. "Yao..." The Chinese man turned and what Arthur saw right then, would've scarred him for the rest of his life.

As Yao turned, his entire appearance started to change. He was now covered in blood, his body practically broken. His arms and legs were dripping off blood, covered in bleeding cuts. Even his neck was slit and bloody. Part of Yao's mournful face was covered by his hair, but Arthur could see the hidden half covered in blood. What had really gotten the Brit was seeing Yao cry red tears as it ran down his scratched up face.

Seeing Yao as he currently was made Arthur remember his time spent with Yao and Hong as a child, reliving everything in a blink of an eye. He remembered everything and remembered why he'd forgotten.

Six years ago, Arthur had gotten a letter telling him Yao, his close childhood friend, had died in a terrible car crash. The news was so devastating to the Brit that it partly killed him inside, deeply wounding his heart. Because of all the pain, Arthur refused to attend his friend's funeral and forced himself to forget everything, which he had succeeded in.

Once snapping out of his daze, Arthur saw Yao quickly turn back around, running out the room. "Wait!" He called, following after Yao, but once he was out the door, he was gone. "Yao..." Arthur said under his breath, looking side to side for Yao.

He stopped when looking at the direction Hong had gone, seeing only one room on that side. With that logic, it had to be his.

"Hong! Hong!" Arthur called, banging on the door. Moments later, the Chinese teen only opened the door a crack. The Brit could only see a small part of Hong's face, but that small part showed swollen red eyes and a lightly tearstained cheek.

"What? I'm trying to sleep." Hong's monotone voice replied slightly cracking.

"Want to visit Yao's grave with me?" Arthur asked with a sincere smile. He noticed Hong's eyes widened just a little, but it was gone a moment later when he slowly nodded his head.

"Sure..." Arthur's smile deepened from Hong's answer as he turned back towards him room. "Arthur," The Brit stopped when Hong called his name. "We did alert you about the news..."

"I know. I got the letter..." Arthur replied, back towards Hong, his smile gone.

"It hurt when you didn't come..."

"I know. I'm sorry..."

"I know you are and it's okay... I understand why..." Arthur heard Hong close the door and so, he walked back to his room.

The Brit plopped onto the bed, it was horribly late. As Arthur quickly drifted to sleep, his last thoughts were of when he was a young child with Yao.

.

.

.

.

.

_"Come on, Yao! You're so slow!" Young Arthur shouted, laughing as he continued running down the grass field._

_"I'm not slow aru! You just had a head start!" Young Yao shouted back, trying to catch up to the Brit. "And slow down! You're going to trip!"_

_"Yeah right!" Arthur scoffed. "You're turning old!"_

_"Ai! I'm only eight and you're a year younger than me aru!" Yao huffed. Before the Chinese boy could say anything more, Arthur did what Yao had said would happen and tripped, tumbling down the grass hill. "Arthur!" The older boy frightfully shouted, chasing after the tumbling Brit. Sadly for him, he also tripped, tumbling down like Arthur._

_"Oof!" Arthur yelped, stopping on his belly. "I'm okay!" The little Brit shouted, attempting to get back up. He failed when Yao unwillingly tumbled into him, landing on top._

_"Aiyah..." Yao groaned under his breath. He turned his head to see Arthur's right next to his, staring back. The two simultaneously blinked for a moment before breaking down into laughter._

_"Get off." Arthur said with a smile, laughter starting to die down. Yao nodded, doing what the Brit said to do._

_"I told you you'll fall aru." Yao giggled, helping Arthur up with an offered hand. The Brit took his hand, now standing on his own._

_"Beh!" Arthur pouted, sticking a tongue out. Yao only shook his head, smiling. "Well, come on!" Arthur started running again, but not as fast, still hand in hand with Yao. When he looked back at Yao with a smile, he saw the Chinese boy's cheeks were pink._

_"Are you okay?" Arthur asked, slowing down to a stop. "Your face is pink." The comment seemed to make Yao's cheeks deepen in color as he shook his head._

_"I-I'm fine aru!" The Chinese boy stuttered. "I-I want to give you something though..." Arthur tilted his head as Yao looked down at the ground, making circles in the dirt with his foot. "But you have to close your eyes!"_

_Arthur blinked a couple of times, confused by Yao. It didn't look like he brought anything when he came. Even so, Arthur did as he was told and closed his eyes. With his eyes closed tight, he waited for Yao to say it was okay to open them again._

_"Are they closed?" Arthur nodded his head to answer Yao's question. "Good. No peeking aru!"_

_._

_._

_._

_._

_._

Arthur gave a gasp as he awoken, eyes flashing open and body jolting to an upright sitting position. He looked around the room, remembering he was staying at an inn for the night. Slowly, Arthur brought his hand to his cheek. "Just a dream..." He said silently under his breath, eyes dejected.

_Bam! Bam! Bam!_"Arthur! Open up!" Arthur instantly snapped out of his gloom to the banging on the door, jumping out of bed and rushing to the door. Opening the door revealed a casually dressed Hong standing impatiently. "Well, doesn't look like you're ready..." Hong said bluntly.

"Well, good morning to you, too. Won't you please come in?" Arthur replied with sarcasm. Even so, Hong still entered, Arthur closing the door behind him. "Just give me ten minutes." Hong nodded his head as Arthur started getting ready, walking towards the window. The weather outside wasn't as bad as it was the previous night, but the gray clouds still gave a desolate feel.

After Arthur finished getting ready, the two checked out of the inn and left. Having driven in separate cars, the two drove alone, first stopping by a flower shop before going to Yao's grave.

As Arthur followed behind Hong's car, he recognized the area they were driving by; it was the exact same place he was at yesterday when driving Yao. Knowing it was the same place as yesterday, the atmosphere started to feel a tad discomforting to the Brit. When he pasted the old library, his spirit saddened, the place having been where Arthur first dropped Yao off.

Even with the setting getting him down, the Brit continued on, now reaching his destination. Arthur continued following Hong to where Yao was laid to rest, stopping and parking when they couldn't continue on.

Arthur gave a sigh, walking up to Hong. The Chinese teen was standing still, the flowers they brought in hand. "I guess this is the place..."

"Yep... Right on that hill..."

"I was just around here yesterday..."

"Oh really?"

"Yep..."

The two sighed, mentally and emotionally getting ready to walk to Yao's grave. Arthur was first to start walking, Hong followed soon after with his head to the ground. They stopped when reaching the tombstone, Arthur reading the inscription a loud. " '_Wang Yao. 19XX-20XX. Dear son of Wang Zhong and Wang Chun Yan, Loving brother of Wang Hong, Close friend of many. Lost before greatness could be achieved._' " Above the inscription were Chinese characters that Arthur guessed was a translated version.

Hong kneeled down before the stone, playing the flowers before it. "Do you mind, Arthur?" Hong asked, standing back up and still looked to the ground. It took the Brit a minute before realizing what Hong was asking. Arthur smiled softly, turning and walking away to leave the two brothers alone.

"Hey, Yao-Ge..." Hong started, taking a gulp. "I-it's me, Hong..." The teen took a nervous breath, still attempting to go on. "It's been a while, huh?"

Arthur turned back from where he was, seeing Hong still looking down at the stone. Truth be told, he could still hear what the other was saying with ease, but decided that Hong didn't need to know.

"I brought Arthur with me. He finally remembers. Even though it's been 12 years since you last saw him, I know you still remember him. _Ba _and _Ma_ aren't fighting or anything anymore. Don't worry, they're still together. They haven't gotten into a serious fight since... that night..."

From where he was, Arthur could hear Hong's voice going coarse again, the Chinese teen dropping to his knees.

"Yao-Ge, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't called, then you would still be here. I was 12 and should've been old enough to stop _Ba _and _Ma_ from fighting. I know 'sorry' won't bring you back, but I really am sorry." Desperately trying to hold back tears, Hong continued on. "_Gege_... I-I brought you flowers. T-they're peonies. I remembered you said you liked them, along with plum blossoms. Y-you have a plum blossom tree next to you, so I didn't bring any of those..."

Arthur walked back to Hong when seeing him grieve. It was painful for him to watch. Before the Brit could comfort the grieving Chinese teen, he saw someone else already there placing a hand on Hong's head. Arthur stopped where he was, not wanting to disturb Yao and Hong.

Yao was sitting on top of his stone, looking down at Hong. "Hong, please stop aru..." Yao said, voice also coarse. "None of this was your fault. Please don't blame yourself." Yao's word had gone unheard by his younger brother as he stood back up.

Yao also stood himself, hopping off his stone. He could see that Hong was now just as tall as him, able to see tears streaming down his face. Unintentionally, Yao wrapped his arms around his younger brother, Hong still unaware of his presence.

"I'll come visit again soon. Miss you, _Gege_..." With that, Hong turned back around, walking away from his older brother. Yao pulled his arms back close, taking a simple hop back onto his stone.

"I miss you, too, _Didi_..."

Hong walked past Arthur, stopping a step later. "Your turn..." He said, voice back to normal. Hong continued walking a bit more as Arthur started walking towards Yao.

"Hello, old friend." Arthur greeted with a gentle smile. Yao looked up, seeing Arthur and his smile.

"Arthur..."

"Sorry it took a while to remember you and everything." Yao pouted at that comment, punching down on the Brit's head. "Ow! What was that for?" Arthur growled at Yao as he huffed, crossing his arms and turning away.

"Do you have any idea how hurtful it is to be forgotten by someone who you used to be so close to aru?" Yao answered.

"W-well excuse me! Do _you_ have any idea how much it hurts to learn that someone close to you died in a car accident?" Arthur intercepted. The two had gone silent after that until Arthur started talking again. "I'm sorry about forgetting you. It just... hurt too much."

"Well, I'm sorry I died aru." Yao chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Arthur only gave him a look, silencing the Chinese man. "I'm really glad to see you again though." Arthur smiled softly, losing it soon after when looking to the ground.

"Why am I the only one who can see you? I didn't even know who you were yesterday." Arthur mumbled. His face was brought back up when Yao cupped his face, lifting it up to be face to face with each other.

"Honestly, I don't know, but I don't mind aru." Arthur moved his hand to the one on his face belonging to Yao, looking right at him. The content gentleness emitting from Yao's eyes and smile had broken Arthur down, making him drop to his knees and let his tears loose.

Yao bent over, still sitting on his tombstone; Arthur was still holding onto his hand. "A-Arthur?"

"Why...?" Arthur hiccupped. "Why the bloody hell did you have to go? You don't deserve to die at all!" Yao was speechless by Arthur outburst, tears starting to fall down his own face as well.

"N-no one really deserves to die. It's a part of life aru." Yao answered, voice strained. "P-please stop." Arthur ignored Yao, unable to control his tears. "P-please, Arthur." No reaction. "Arthur!" Yao took back his hand, hopped of his stone, and hugged the Brit around his neck.

Arthur's eyes widened as Yao hugged him, falling back and landing on his bottom. "Please stop crying aru." Arthur heard Yao's scratchy voice strive to say. "I haven't seen you in 12 years and missed you aru. Please, smile, for me." Arthur could still feel Yao shaking, knowing he was still crying.

Hesitantly, Arthur brought his arms up, soon finding the confidence to hug Yao back tightly. "Okay..." He said, nodding his head. "I'll smile. I'll smile for you, Yao."

Yao pulled away, sitting on his knees and looking right at Arthur. The Brit was wiping his tearstained face with his sleeves, giving a toothy smile a moment later. Yao hid a chuckled behind his hand at Arthur's smile, making him chuckle himself.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asked with a sly smile, standing up and offering a hand to Yao. The Chinese man took it, pulling himself up and wiping his tearstained face with his free arm.

"Your face is all red and puffy aru." Yao lied, smiling as he crossed his arms.

"Oh really? I bet it's not as red and puffy as yours." Arthur teased back, putting his hands on his hips, giving a smug look. Yao stuck his tongue out and Arthur did the same, both laughing soon after. "I should get going now." Arthur said with a sad smile. Yao nodded, sharing the same smile.

As Arthur began walking, Yao quickly took his arm, stopping the Brit. "Wait. One more thing." Arthur turned back, facing Yao with a confused look. "Can you make sure Hong knows none of this was his fault aru? None of this was his fault and I don't want him beating himself up thinking it was." The look in Yao's eyes showed determination. Arthur nodded his head, agreeing to Yao's request. He would've done it himself even if Yao didn't ask.

"Thank you." Yao smiled a heartfelt smile, releasing his grip on Arthur's arm. The Brit smiled with equal sincerity, starting to walk away again. "Goodbye, Arthur!" Yao shouted.

"Goodbye, Yao." Arthur waved back. "I'll come visit again soon..." He added to himself as he neared Hong. The teen was sitting on the concrete ground, knees to his chest as he leaned against his car.

"That took a while." Hong said, not needing to see Arthur approach him to know he was there.

"I had a lot to say." Arthur smiled, giving Hong a hand up. "Hong," Arthur started when Hong was back on his feet, "You do know that none of this was your fault, right?"

Hong sighed, looking away at the ground. "Yeah..." The way Hong had said 'yeah' made Arthur know he didn't mean it. It sounded more like when one is tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. With that, Arthur knew he was going to have trouble trying to convince Hong, but he would do it anyways. "Let's go. I'm sure there are a lot of people who would be excited to see you." Hong said, opening his car door.

"Sure." Arthur smiled.

Hong was first to drive off, leaving Arthur to follow him out. Only, the Brit didn't leave just yet. He turned back around, seeing Yao sitting back on his tombstone. The Chinese man had a pure smile on his face, but tears were still falling. Yao mouthed something to Arthur before disappearing with the wind.

All Arthur could do was watch him disappear, his insides hurting once again. When Yao was gone, he turned away, eyes closed shut as tears fell yet again. Arthur entered his car, starting it up when something repeated in his head.

_"Please, smile, for me..."_

Arthur sighed, his eyes hooded by his hair. A moment later, he looked back up with a toothy smile, tears still falling.

"I'll smile for you, Yao..."

* * *

**Notes:**

-sorry for ooc-ness  
-18 is considered an adult and all, but calling Hong a teen made things easier to understand/less confusing  
-might've exaggerated at how gory Yao looked, but I don't know what one might look like after a severe car crash  
-Ma - mom  
-Ba - dad  
-Ge/Gege - big brother  
-Didi - little brother  
-don't exactly know what should be written on tombstones  
-characters belong to himarua hidekaz  
-super sucky cover belongs to me  
-could be considered an IggyChu(?)  
-FML - wasn't in the mood for writing comedies  
-5,600 words total, not counting notes

* * *

Are you sick of my AU oneshots?


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